A section of the street was cordoned off and people in houses in the area were evacuated before a controlled explosion was carried out at around 4.40pm. The road reopened at around 5.10pm.

“How it got there I have no idea,” Mr Riches, in his mid-70s, said. “You hear about these things from time to time but for it to actually happen to you is very unexpected. It was very odd.

“I don’t know how long it has been there but I don’t think anyone has been in the coal house since the 1970s.”

The retired commercial horticulturist said he was “never worried” when coming across the device, which weighed around one kilogram and was about 18 inches long.

“I’ve read up on these things before and was never perturbed. I was clearing out mainly pieces of junk in the coal shed when I came across something heavier.

“I thought ‘oh hello, what’s this?’ I then brought it out in to the open and realised what it was.

“I put it out in the garden, under some shrubs, and called the police.”

He said the bomb disposal experts, thought to have been drafted in from Colchester, did a good job in safely detonating the device before police called residents telling them it was safe to return to their homes.

“It is an absolute mystery why and how it got there,” Mr Riches added. “It is just one of those odd things.”